Remarkable 3-Year Old Plays with Orchestra

by 

Frogtoon Music

Since I am going to be busy for the next couple of weeks prepping for my Christmas shows, I would like to add a new element to this blog. Call it Remarkable Kidz and it will feature videos of kids being remarkable in the arts.

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Each week, Max Tell features a few inspirational articles about poetry writing for kids

as well as his own blog posts.

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To read a few of Max's poems, check out The Land of Graws.

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Shopping Cart

For more poems by Max Tell visit The Land of Graws

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More From Max:

The Knight, The Dragon, and the Librarian
12 Songs by Max Tell
10 Poems by Max Tell

www.maxtell.ca

Max on Facebook

Resources:

A song - The Sasquatch that Botched Hopscotch 

Poems Inspired by the Sense of Smell 

Simple Rhyme - ABCB

Rhyme - Unlimited Rhyme Scheme

Game 11 - Where Ideas Come From

Poems - Olympic Heroes

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Next topic: Christmas Song Video

Big or Tiny

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What poetry question would you like answered? Point of View? Rhyme? Something of your choice? Student questions are also welcome. Your comments below would be greatly appreciated.

Bye for now and see you soon.

Have a great writing day.

Love writing, but love editing more.

Max Tell / Writing Prompt / I'm a Monster

Original Image: funny-pictures.picphotos.net

PROMPT: I'm a Monster

TEACHER: If you were a monster what kind of monster would you be?

INSTRUCTIONS: See Monday's entry for general instructions.

Below, you will find Max Tell's 10 minute notes and final draft for today's prompt.

NOTE FROM MAX: Sometimes when I do this exercise, ideas jump out of my imagination in the form or poetry, but when the poetry stops flowing, I follow whatever thought comes to mind. Do not get stuck with poetry. Let your mind be free. You can always turn back to the poetry when you re-write.

If I were a monster, I would’t fright

I wouldn’t spook throughout the night,

I wouldn’t sneak, and peak, and shriek,

Max Tell / Amanda the Panda

As a special change today, here is a video of one of Max Tell's latest songs which is to appear on his next CD. Enjoy.

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Each week, Max Tell features a writing prompt, 

an inspirational article about poetry writing for kids,

as well as some of his own writing.

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To read a few of Max's poems, check out The Land of Graws.

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Shopping Cart

For more poems by Max Tell visit The Land of Graws

Max Tell / Writing Prompt / Boring

Original Image: publishingperspectives.com

PROMPT: Boring

TEACHER: What makes you bored? How do you feel when you get bored? 

INSTRUCTIONS: See Monday's entry for general instructions.

Before beginning today's 10 minute writing session, invite the class to make 'boring' faces, photograph them, and post the pictures around the room. Afterward, post the pictures and the poems out on the hall bulletin board. 

Below, you will find Max Tell's 10 minute notes and final draft for today's prompt.

Max Tell / Writing Prompt / I Wish I Were

PROMPT: I wish I were . . . swing on a swing, rollerblading, skateboarding, kiting, or anything you choose.

TEACHER: What would you like to be doing right now? Would you like to be swinging on a swing, rollerblading, or skateboarding? Or maybe you have something completely different in mind. Let's have fun with our imagination.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Max Tell / Writing Prompt / If Dad Was A?

Image: www.op-cc.ca

Image: www.hdwallpaperscool.com

Prompt: If your dad, mom, sister, brother, or friend was a giraffe, an octopus, a dolphin, a star in the sky, even an insect, or whatever you choose, what would you write about him or her?

Note: From now on, once a week, I will include a full write-up for a prompt. The rest of the week, I will only include the writing prompt.

Max Tell / Writing Prompt / I Am Afraid

Image: babble.com

What I'm Afraid Of

Writing Prompt: November 20th, 2014

I’m afraid of . . . an insect, an animal, lightning, thunder, or whatever makes you cringe. Write in the voice of a child you have in mind.

* Note: From now on, once a week, I will include a full write-up for a prompt. The rest of the week, I will only include the prompt.

Max Tell / Writing Prompt / Cute Pet Pictures

Image: whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com

Image: www.freeafile.com

Show-and-Tell Cute Pet Pictures

Invite the children in your class to bring in a show-and-tell picture of their kitten, puppy, cat, dog or any other pet. If a child does not have a pet of their own, invite them to bring in a picture of the pet they would like to have. 

Keep a file of pictures that children may choose from if they forget.

SUGGESTIONS:

Max Tell / Ten Minute Object Writing From A Photograph

Spring-boarding from an image is a great way to get the creative juices flowing. Ten minutes of object writing per day, no more (5-6 minutes for younger children) will build a strong foundation for later writing whether creative or academic. 

TO THE TEACHER: 

1) Invite each of your students to bring a clipping of a picture to school to write about. Have a few extra clipping available incase some of the children forget.

2) Set an alarm for 10 minute, no longer.

Max Tell / Halloween Prompt Three

Roast the Ghost Three

Set a timer for six minutes.

In six minutes write everything that, given the chance to live a better life, you would do differently.

After the six minutes are up, highlight all the good stuff, and then write a poem, song, or story (picture book or YA novel chapter or part of) based on your notes.

Make us laugh.  

Inspired by a writing prompt on a Berklee Online Songwriting Webinar.

Max Tell / Halloween / Writing Prompt Two

Roast the Ghost Two

Set a timer for six minutes.

Write everything that is lousy about being a ghost and being stuck on earth for an eternity as nothing but a shapeless shadow. Write about your senses, and the lingering bad taste in her mouth, what things look like now in comparison to what they had looked like back when she was alive. Think about the awful sounds that haunt her every waking moment and the icky feeling of everything she touches. And finally, how it feels to live the dead life of a ghost whose only experience is one  endless, sleepless, and nightmarish night.

After the six minutes are up, highlight all the good stuff, and then write a poem, song, or story (picture book or YA novel chapter or part of) based on your notes.

Spook us out.  

Inspired by a writing prompt on Berklee College of Music's Online Songwriting Webinar.

© Robert ‘Max Tell’ Stelmach 2014

Spook us out.

Inspired by a writing prompt on Berklee College of Music's Online Songwriting Webinar.

Each week, Max Tell features a few inspirational articles about poetry writing for kids

as well as his own blog posts.

---

To read a few of Max's poems, check out The Land of Graws.

---

Shopping Cart

For more poems by Max Tell visit The Land of Graws

---

More From Max:

The Knight, The Dragon, and the Librarian
12 Songs by Max Tell
10 Poems by Max Tell

www.maxtell.ca

Max on Facebook

Resources:

Rhyme Scheme
RhymeZone: A Rhyming Dictionary
A Wealth of Poetry Games for Grades K-5
Sheree Fitch

Writing Stories in Rhythm & Rhyme

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Next topic: 

TBA

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What poetry question would you like answered? Point of View? Rhyme? Something of your choice? Student questions are also welcome. Your comments below would be greatly appreciated.

Bye for now and see you soon.

Have a great writing day.

Max

Love writing, but love editing more.

Halloween / Writing Prompt One

Roast the Ghost One

Grade 5 and up.

Set a timer for six minutes.

Write everything a ghost did in its living life to cause it to be punished with an existence of floating aimlessly for an eternity with no friends and with nothing to do, but to mourn its many bad deeds.

Concentrate on actions, the bad things it did while alive to its enemies and friends. Try to write constantly, never lifting your pen or pencil from the page.

After the six minutes are up, highlight all the good stuff, and then write a poem, song, or story (picture book or part of a YA novel chapter) based on your notes.

Spook us out.

Simple Rhyme / ABCB

Writing a poem with a simple rhyme scheme can be lots of fun, especially when trying to rhyme with tricky words like 'queen' and 'play', the two having so few words to rhyme with. I wrote "Every Girl's a Princess" for my niece's granddaughter, Khloe.

Every Girl's a Princess

Every girl's a princess,

don’t rush to be a queen.

There is time for many things

and many in between.

Poems Inspired by the Sense of Smell

Sense of Smell

Smell is a great sense to write a poem about.

1. Make a long list of words that mean smell.
2. Add "things" that smell.
3. Highlight the "smelly" words and "smelly" things you think smell the worse.
4. Now, write your poem.

Don't forget to edit (re-write) your poem. First drafts can be good, but editing makes them better.

Here is a sample of one of my smelly poems. Please note, I added a twist or surprise to the end. A twist or a surprise is a perfect way to end a poem.

An Awful Stink Attacked the House

An awful stink attacked the house,

Gamy, gaseous, grim.

It made me feel quite nauseous,

Hives bubbled on my skin.

Max Tell / Song / The Sasquatch that Botched Hopscotch

The Sasquatch that Botched Hopscotch

"The Sasquatch That Botched Hopscotch" by award wining songwriter Max Tell has won Honorable Mention in the May/June 2014 American Songwriter Lyric Contest, AmericanSongwriter.com.

A Sasquatch that Botched Hopscotch

Hip-hop and Hopscotch

Hip-hop and Hopscotch

Hip-hop and Hopscotch

Danced by a Sasquatch.

                  G                           D

I watched a Sasquatch with a stopwatch

       C                             G

At a sweet shop, sipping soda pop.

                  G                                D

I watched a Sasquatch gumming gumdrops,

            D7                           G

Dancing Hip-hop in her flip-flops.

Max Tell / Poems / Olympic Heroes

Robert Luongo, 2014 Olympics, www.sports.yahoo.com

The Goalie

Dedicated to Roberto Luongo

The rink was slick and ready, the zamboni had made its pass.

Not a skate had crossed the line, ice shimmered just like glass.

The crowd was loud and restless for the players to appear,

Then came a sudden cheering - 

Cheering - cheering -

Then came a sudden cheering for the player of the year.   

Max Tell / Royal City Poets 2013

Photo Art: Janet Kvammen of Janet Planet

Max Tell

Three Poems

Royal City Poets

Anthology 2013

Penelope Page Put Poems in Pudding

Penelope Page put poems in pudding.

Poems in pudding, Penelope put.

Pretty and pleasant, all picturesque,       

Plush poems pensiled in spondaic foot.    

Hannah Lowe's Top Poetry Writing Tips

Forward prize-shortlisted poet Hannah Lowe, who will be judging this year's Foyle Young Poets of the Year competition, offers her top tips to young poetry writers

Hannah Lowe

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 24 July 2013 12.25 BST

Hannah Lowe, shortlisted for the prestigious Forward prize for poetry for her anthology Chick, will be judging the Foyles Young Poets competition. There's still time to enter!

1. Read!

Read lots of different poems, from books at school, home, the library, bookshops, or poems you find online. The Poetry Library in London and the Scottish Poetry Library in Edinburgh are great places to start. Look at their websites if you can't visit them. Read poems for adults as well as for children. What do you like? What makes a good poem in your opinion? Read poems aloud so you can hear their sound effects and music. Learn a poem off by heart and see how you find reciting it from memory. More . . .

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Now it's your turn. Write your own poem. Have fun, I always do.

Bright Kids are Budding Poets

Budding poets at Bright Kids in Crabbs Cross

BRIGHT Kids children at Crabbs Cross recently entered the Young Writers; My Nursery Rhymes Creative Writing Competition. More . . .

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Here at Koetry for Pids, Max Tell features
a few inspirational articles
about poetry writing for kids

as well as his own inspirational blog posts.

---

To read a few of Max's poems, check out The Land of Graws.

Max Tell / Koetry for Pids / G11 / Where Ideas Come From

Max Tell, poet and award winning songwriter publishes 
a new Koetry for Pids blog each week.

Max also features inspirational articles about poetry
and other artistic activities for kids.